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Published: December 27th 2013
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Saturday 21st December, 2013. Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand
Today was a 'spare' day as we had allowed two days for the whale watching in case there were any weather or other issues. We decided that we would spend the day walking the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway (or at least some of it). The walkway (KPW) is a joint community project shared between a number of eco-concious organisations. It starts at the town centre and goes to Point Kean, across the cliff tops to South Bay where it returns to the town via Toms Track. The total walk is 11.7 kms. We were already half way from the town to Point Kean due to the location of the YH (so saved ourselves 2.2 k's before we even started!
The Peninsula is rich in Maori tradition and early Maori hunted Moa and sheltered in the coastal caves. A grave found in the 1850's revealed the skeleton of a man holding the largest complete Moa egg ever discovered. As Moa's were hunted out of existence gardening became more important and settlements more permanent. Lookout points were built in case of attack - there are at least 14 of these sites on the
Peninsula.
We left the YH and walked down The Esplanade until we reached the Wharf where we saw a sign for an aquarium. We had the whole day - so what the hell? Off we went, paid our $5NZ to get in and spent a pleasant hour strolling around. There were sea horses, small sharks and lots of things in shells (including lobsters) - it was a pleasant interlude.
Then we continued on the KPW. We walked down Avoca Street where the beach had a really weird shorelilne and wave-cut platform. We took some pictures. Then we came across Fyffe House, standing on piles made from whalebone vertabrae. Built by George Fyffe in 1860 it is situated on the way to the northern end of the walkway. It is open to public but we didn't go inside as it looked very commercial and we potentially had a long walk ahead of us.
Fyffe house is adjacent to the site of the old port. For many years the town's main link with the outside world was this official port of entry, now all that remains of the former customs house is an old brick chimney. After land access
improved the port closed in 1931 and in 1945 the Christchurch to Picton railway opened complete with 21 tunnels. The chimney is a really weird site standing proud on the shoreline.
We continued on to Armers Beach. Here we found the famous Kaikoura Seafood BBQ which had been mentioned by our guide on the trip yesterday. This is good sea food, cooked very simply. As it was now lunch time we managed to find a couple of seats (easier said than done - we were a bit lucky!). D had an Abalone Patty and M had Garlic Scallops - no booze though as it wasn't licensed. This was a shame as the food was lovely, but it did need a glass of cold white wine to wash it all down.
We continued along the walkway towards Point Kean where there is a colony of NZ Fur Seals. The path turned into a boardwalk along the coast where we found a lagoon with lots of ducks and geese. Some of them were sleeping with their heads under their wings - very cute.
We arrived at Point Kean car park and then had to make a decision. Do we
walk up to the viewing platform or chance it across the beach in order to be closer to the seals. We plumped for the beach as the tide was out and we knew we had a few hours before it came back in again. There was a sign warning you to be aware of the tides. The coast was very rocky with lots of rock pools and crevices. We leaped like mountain goats across these but saw no sign of a seal. Eventually D asked a bloke coming in the other direction if he had seen any. He replied that there were loads about half a mile along the beach (it was much further!). We continued on our quest and came across one lone seal basking in the sun. There were a few tourists taking photos so we joined in. We carried on along the beach when we heard a tremendous roar just like a lion - one of the tourists had obviously got a bit too close!
We walked on an on until we eventually found the colony at Whaler's Bay. There were loads of them. We watched them for ages. We also saw a strange sea bird
which we have since found out could have been a Hutton's Shearwater. On the cliffs near Whaler's Bay, the Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust is establishing a new colony of this endangered Hutton's Shearwater bird. Kaikoura is the only place on EARTH where these unique sea birds breed. Between 2004 and 2008, 300 Hutton's Shearwater chicks were brought down from their mountain colonies to the new site. The chicks were fed in artificial burrows for up to a month, ensuring they would return to the new site to breed. In 2009, the first of the translocated chicks returned. While the Hutton's Shearwater population will take some time to fill the entire area within the predator proof fence, eventually it will protect a population of 10,000 breeding birds. How wonderful it that? M loves all this saving the creatures stuff!
We made our way back to Point Kean the way we had come. When we reached Avoca Street we saw a sign for a Sheep shearing Show which was going to start in 10 minutes time. Great - off we went. Neither of us had seen this before. The guy doing the show was very entertaining. He explained that his wife's
parents had owned the farmland but now they had sold most of it off and only kept enough sheep for the shows (they also ran a B&B). The sheep was shorn very efficiently (although it looked a bit sore in places afterwards!). We got to see the wool being pressed into bales and also how the lanolin, which is the natural oil in the wool, is used in hand creams etc. Finally we were treated to a few tricks by the sheep dog. M had her photo taken with a pair of horns and we were all given a present of some freshly shorn (previously washed) wool.
We returned to the hostel where we had dinner. We were sat in the window and were treated to a wonderful sunset. The whole sea and sky turned a lovely shade of pink. D went outside and took a few snaps (along with half the hostel tenants). A great day considering we had no expectations whatsoever.
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